The Taster’s Christmas Ice Cream Bombe

This is The Taster’s biggest Top Tip for Christmas. The shape and colour make this Bombe a showstopping alternative to Christmas Pud: stick a bit of holly on top, and who’d know the difference? All the ingredients can be personalised, so your Bombe is as unique as you choose to make it. And because it is frozen, you can create it in advance and remain relaxed and unhurried on The Big Day.

Method

Take the ice cream out of the freezer. While it is warming, line a bowl — first with clingfilm, and then with slices of cake. Pack them well together. Cut out little triangles to fill any gaps. Drizzle the wine over the cake, then use the back of a spoon to spread the jam all over it. Stir your fruits and nuts into the melty ice cream, and pour it into the bowl.
Tamp it all down well, clingfilm the top and freeze overnight.
Next day, melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir it, to make it smooth. Turn the bombe out onto a cakestand, and pour the chocolate evenly over it. Serve straight away, or return to the freezer.

Variations

Any cake that absorbs wine will do — Madeira, Panettone, plain sponge, Swiss roll. The wine could be Marsala, Madeira, vin santo, amaretto or medium sherry.
Raspberry jam seems to work best, but apricot would add a floral note.
For the ice cream, The Taster suggests vanilla, cookie dough, coffee or pistachio. Enrich it with anything you like. The chocolate too can vary. Fairtrade supplier Divine does dark chocolate & raspberry bars, which would tie in with the raspberry jam. See divinechocolate

Suggestions

3. As mentioned above – for a raspberry explosion, try using raspberry ripple ice cream, raspberry jam and Divine Chocolate’s dark chocolate & raspberry bar (pictured). The tangy raspberry pieces in the chocolate gives the shell a lumpy appearance which is not without its own charm.

4. Christmas cake ice cream, with fruit already in it — Simply Icecream does an award-winning version with winter spices and rum-soaked raisins, so half your work is done. See simplyicecream

This piece appeared, along with much other excellent and informative writing, in our 2015 Winter/Christmas issue of The Taster. We rely on our subscribers, as we’re a completely independent food & drink magazine; unlike many others, we are not sponsored by a supermarket, television company or any other corporate parent. We’ve been going for three years and it looks like we *can* do this – with the help of our subscribers. If you’ve enjoyed what we’ve written, please subscribe for yourself, or as a Christmas present for a foodie friend, BY CLICKING HERE. Many thanks!